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Mamhead Park South, a hidden coastal gem nestled in stunning Devon countryside, offers a different take on luxury. This historic estate has been lovingly rewilded, blending opulent living with the tranquility of nature. As you explore the grounds, you'll find ancient woodlands, lush meadows filled with wildflowers, and scenic walking paths that invite relaxation and reflection.

This isn’t just a retreat—it's an eco-luxury experience. Rewilding efforts at the estate have transformed manicured landscapes into thriving natural habitats, where wildlife flourishes. Birds such as red kites, kingfishers, and woodpeckers soar through the skies, while water voles, herons and mallards make their homes.

Subscribers can fully immerse themselves in the estate's beauty, enjoying the serene gardens, the charm of the Lakehouse at Devon Sculpture Park, and the surrounding wildlife. Whether you seek peace, renewal, or a deeper connection to nature, Mamhead Park South offers a sanctuary like no other - a place where history, art, and nature harmoniously come together.

The Robert Adam Orangery offers a sublime blend of historical grandeur and natural beauty. This enchanting estate, with its sweeping lawns, ancient woodlands, and panoramic views over the Exe estuary, is a true sanctuary. A majestic tree-lined driveway welcomes you into a world where heritage meets serenity, leading to the Orangery, a Grade II* listed coastal gem that exudes timeless elegance.

The architecture, with its grand façade, ornate stonework, and tall, mullioned windows, evokes a bygone era of opulence and sophistication. Inside, high-ceilinged rooms filled with soft natural light open onto terraces and gardens with breathtaking views to the sea below, offering tranquil spaces for both reflection and celebration. The estate’s parkland stretches for miles, with secluded walking paths winding through the lush greenery, alongside Capability Brown gardens dotted with centuries-old trees.

Tucked within the enchanting grounds of Mamhead Park South, the Lakehouse offers more accommodation and a serene hideaway where art, nature, and conservation converge. Perched on the edge of a small shimmering lake, this charming retreat is surrounded by wildflower meadows, ancient woodlands, and undulating hills that have been carefully nurtured through an ambitious rewilding project.

As you retreat to the Lakehouse hovering over the lake, you’ll be immersed in a world where art and nature exist in harmony, surrounded by the tranquil beauty of Devon Sculpture Park’s extraordinary rewilded landscape. It’s a place to reconnect with the wild, to experience the serenity of nature’s revival, and to embrace the quiet magic of this unique sanctuary.

The Estate comfortably sleeps 14 people in 6 bedrooms between The Orangery and the Lakehouse. And includes ample space for dining and relaxing on its large terraces and decks with stunning sea views or intimate settings over the magical copse that surrounds the lake.

Enjoy the full estate for a family gathering, an adventurous offsite or a chance to gather with family, friends or colleagues. Explore all its diverse attributes from architecture, art, garden. Its the ultimate place to relax, renew and restore.

What you get:

• Sleeps 14

• The Orangery

• The Lakehouse

• Meeting Rooms

• Summerhouse

• Terraces

• Expansive gardens

• Tennis court

• Lake with rowing boat

* If on monthly paid subscription you can stay 5 days after 10 months.

Book your annual 5-day stay, sign up to our subscription-based membership today and begin your journey to experiencing Mamhead Park South.

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To find out more about our first eco-estate retreat go to LettsRetreat.com.

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Welcome to Devon Sculpture Park, a unique haven where art and nature collide to create an unforgettable experience.

Unlike the confines of a traditional gallery, Devon Sculpture Park allows art to breathe freely. Here, open-air art becomes an extension of the environment, each piece carefully chosen to complement the natural beauty that surrounds it.

As you wander the park, towering metal structures converse with ancient oaks, while whimsical installations add a touch of whimsy to hidden corners. This immersive experience encourages visitors to not just view art, but to connect with it on a deeper level, sparking imagination and igniting curiosity.

The park caters to every kind of explorer. Art enthusiasts can delve into the stories behind each sculpture, appreciating the diverse styles and mediums represented. Nature lovers can lose themselves in the meticulously rewilded gardens, a testament to the genius of Capability Brown.

Families can embark on a "Garden Safari", a guided tour that combines artistic exploration with wildlife discovery, making learning a fun adventure.

But Devon Sculpture Park offers more than just stunning scenery and artistic intrigue. It's a place to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Unwind with a gourmet picnic lunch amidst the artworks, or simply relax by the lake and lose yourself in the symphony of nature.

Whether you're an art aficionado, a nature enthusiast, or simply seeking a peaceful escape, Devon Sculpture Park at our first LettsRetreat offers a unique experience that caters to all. It's a place where art comes alive, inviting you to rediscover the beauty of the natural world and reconnect with your inner artist.

To find out more about our first eco-estate retreat go to LettsRetreat.com.

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Mamhead Park South has a history harking all the way back to the Domesday Book. A place with 1,000 year old trees and ancient smugglers tunnels to the sea below. Today it is a contemporary private retreat brimming with stunning historic architecture, art, wildlife, exotic gardens and endless sea views.

This unique boutique estate incorporates 100 acres of rewilded lands on the southern tip of Exeter. Its buildings include one of the world’s last historic Orangery’s that is still lived in, a lakehouse that hovers over the Capability Brown lake, a summer house, ice house and more.

Art and nature effortlessly combine in the young, emerging project called Devon Sculpture Park. A growing national home and collection of open-air conceptual and environmental art.

The Robert Adam Orangery is proving to be the ultimate week or weekend away for that very special treat. 4 luxurious bedrooms and a series of historic reception rooms await. The terraces overlooking the ocean yield one of the UK’s most memorable sea vistas.

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The Lakehouse hovering over the Capability Brown lake is the ultimate getaway. Two stunning bedrooms, one with bunks, and a contemporary family room that opens onto the deck over the lake make it truly special. Relax around this 1 acre lake in a magical woodland glade surrounded by wildlife and art.

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Equally, you can join us for one of our day visits, taking in the spectacular Capability Brown gardens, the art, architecture and incredible natural landscape. Day visits are private, intimate and immersive and numbers are strictly limited. So please make sure to book well in advance.

Book a Day Visit

To find out more about our first eco estate retreat go to LettsRetreat.com.

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‘5 artists, 5 years, 5 media’ is the work of two conceptual environmental artists, one large scale abstract ceramic artist, one land and performance artist and a video and photo artist. Each artwork has been carefully nurtured and curated in this mesmerising place reimagined into a national showcase for tackling the issues of our time head on. Devon Sculpture Park effortlessly combines eco, nature, 3D and the power of creativity not just physically but in the digital realm as well. A mash-up of history, modernity and issues based identity so lacking in our modern way of living life and doing business.

The artists: Chris Speyer, Terry Howe, Robert Marshall MRSS, Colin Porter and Jem McCluskey have spent a great deal of time in this haven crafting their bold work for this wonderful private collection on Britain’s coastal shores. Their work is a passage through time and media. The art is not only in the park but also online thanks to an exciting partnership with LettsArt, the new way of showing, collecting and cataloguing art online. It’s an emerging online platform that can support any number of artists – going beyond the smaller cross section of artists involved at DSP.

Any time spent with these 5 artists is time well spent. They are passionate about their art form, but also about climate issues, politics and social change. Each adds a great deal to their local communities – some at soup kitchens or food banks, some in schools and some in nature. They make art, write, perform, photograph and communicate the issues of our time with frank honesty.

From the moment you enter the first gate into LettsRetreat Exeter you know you are somewhere different. A peahen wanders casually down the drive, a fallow deer bolts and the sea beckons you from below. The land is wild, vibrant and abundant. A place set out to repair the damage of climate change and nature pared back by man.

From when you park your car you spot the added glint of art and architecture. It starts with Japanese style outdoor paintings hanging under trees leading onto one of the earlier UK eco-art installations of cob, stone and glass. It is not long before you confront Chris Speyer’s first installation of haunting looking forms of massive clay carefully crafted to remind us that in this historic estate soil rules. Further into the Capability Brown gardens you experience how he shapes clay to spin a story about our rewilding and his roots in the Australian outback.

Marshall MRSS and Howe entertain us with bold, audacious conceptual environmental art that leaves you with an endless series of questions. They provide not just 3D art in this wild park, but portals to a different world – one not only conjured in their minds eye through their extraordinary creations fashioned from found and recycled materials, but fathomed around them by the custodians of the park on a mission to make the place bio-diverse, climate solving and ‘new chic’: Thoughtfully cause driven, a place where humans genuinely draw inspiration from their relationship with nature as previous power-names such as Lancelot Capability Brown, James Boswell and Robert Adam did before.

Porter and McCluskey provide a final slate of artistic poetry in this climate panacea – reflecting its two extremes. One centred on land art and the other on digital. Both bring the physical into the digital and both entertain us with their messages inspired by Devon Sculpture Park but way beyond this secret corner.

Where else might a historic building carry a green roof and glass ceilings? Where else takes a hidden, overrun Capability Brown garden and painstakingly restores it as a national rewilding masterpiece? Where else achieves conservation goal after conservation goal in a small 100 acre park? At LettsRetreat we combine all these elements to try to tell one essential story about history, contemporary art and climate protection.

Visit LettsRetreat’s Capability Brown gardens and see the work of Chris Speyer, Terry Howe, Robert Marshall MRSS, Colin Porter and Jem McCluskey this summer with a Garden Safari or 3 Hour Wildland Safari. When you do you will be supporting our rewilding and conservation work, while learning about the climate causes and techniques we champion.

Keep up to date with LettsRetreat’s latest news and updates at our website and on twitter.

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This unique private 100 acre historic coastal retreat has numerous gems, including its architecture, Capability Brown Gardens, rewilding project and contemporary sculpture park.

The Robert Adam Orangery combines Mediterranean style sea vistas with its grand Romanesque architecture and a towering dome that acts almost like a lighthouse to the sea in front. A throwback to the ancient ship owners that once owned the place.

There are views to die for: Unfettered in the winter. Hazy in the summer.

An amazing place to meet and relax. A true escape from it all. Adventures and stories to be made. History at every corner in this Domesday Book place.

Films and episodes of TV shows are shot regularly here. You can book a film or photo shoot.

One of the last Capability Brown gardens in southwest England features here. Restored and rewilded. Cascade gardens flow with water and flora. Terraces overlook the sea.

Visit the Capability Brown Gardens

The Art is everywhere. A shrine to contemporary and environmental open-air art. This private collection is becoming one of the wonders of the southwest.

Visit the Sculpture Park

The rewilding project is celebrated.

The summer house is still a working studio. One that guests staying at the Robert Adam Orangery can enjoy.

The Lakehouse hovering over the Capability Brown lake is refreshing in the summer and cosy in winter (thanks to its underfloor heating!).

Book a Lakehouse Stay

The extraordinary Robert Adam Orangery is the ultimate, sumptuous retreat. A long weekend to cherish for life. A place for any season!

Stay at the Robert Adam Orangery

LettsRetreat brings you private eco estate retreats. Our first eco retreat is in Exeter, Devon. We look forward to welcoming you.

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Book your 2023 day visit today and experience one of the largest private collections of open-air art. We recommend booking early as numbers are limited.

Book a Day Visit

The Robert Adam Orangery is one of the UK’s finest historic coastal homes. It sits in the heart of the Capability Brown gardens overlooking the sea. Robert Adam’s famed dome looms high over the landscape.

Wander the 15 acre Capability Brown gardens with one of our signature Garden Safaris - experiencing art, architecture and rewilded gardens for wildlife. Relax, renew and rediscover yourself.

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Experience environmental art as it should be. Surrounded by nature in its most powerful form. Buttressed by it. There are over 60 environmental art installations to discover in this unique private collection.

Bold, contemporary art is surrounded by massive, ancient trees and breathtaking sea vistas at every step. It’s like a natural amphitheatre of culture. A hidden part of Exeter - so magical and unique.

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We all need some downtime this Christmas. And time for peaceful reflection.

Christmas at LettsRetreat is about family, friends, water and nature. The Devon way!

Lose yourself in nature - take a walk on the wild side!

Surround yourself with art. Book a magical Garden Safari with Devon Sculpture Park in our amazing Capability Brown gardens. *Only select dates available.

We look forward to seeing you in 2023. We hope the rest of 2022 brings you comfort and joy!

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Then there are the smugglers tunnels that still operate down to the sea. And the timeless architecture, some of it even harking back to the Domesday Book. We dare you to spend a Halloween night in the park. Badgers, foxes and black fallow stags to boot! Hopefully this collection of photographs is the next best thing.

The above images were developed by two exciting new southwest light artists collaborating with Robert Marshall MRSS on an exciting new project at the sculpture park.

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Happy Halloween from all of us at LettsRetreat!

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Doyle’s ‘Whirl’ transforms the wind into a dynamic dance of colour and light. The audience is invited to rest beneath the domed structure, relax and enjoy the mesmerising light show overhead.

Whirl aims to showcase the beauty and versatility of wind power and inspire the audience to imagine a future powered by renewable energy. Whirl featured at Canary Wharf for Summer Lights 2021.

Helena Doyle is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator from Ireland working across a range of mediums from installation and video to street theatre and land art. With sanctuary as a major theme in her work she creates immersive spaces and experiences that encourage contemplation and evoke a sense of awe in the viewer.

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She draws on sacred geometry and Zen design principles when designing the aerial sculptures she refers to as ‘soft architecture’. Rather than function to protect the body from the elements, these transient spaces relate more to spirit and reflect on impermanence. 

In her practice she works with waste, natural or found materials where possible and promotes how artists and makers can create value from the abundance of materials coming from countless waste streams. 

Helena explores mythology, folk crafts and indigenous technologies as a way to find the common threads between cultures. She believes in collective crafting as a tool for healing and community building and facilitates workshops where participants create installations together. We are proud to welcome her to the impressive roster of climate conscious artists at the park.

You can enjoy ‘Whirl’ at Exeter’s Capability Brown Gardens - book a visit today.

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This unique collection of Speyer’s works include massive abstract clay sculptures and aboriginal imagined wood and ceramic artworks that point to sweeping views across the Devon landscape out to the sea.

The video at the top of the post reveals Chris’s indoor display in the Sheds called ‘EARTH WORKS’ which is a stunning fusion of clay and wood narrating the importance of soil, nature and artist.

Book a visit and experience the magic of Speyer’s eco art and Mamhead Park’s rewilded gardens via Devon Sculpture Park.

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Robert Marshall’s works are deliberately big, bright and bold. They ask the viewer to reconsider how individuals impact the environment. They ask us how to cease being passive, blinkered watchers of deleterious effects of environmental damage and become active negotiators and protagonists to force change through our own personal choices.

'In Search of a New World…’ comprises four large scale conceptual sculptures offering different pathways via portals into possible worlds. They open liminal spaces and allow you to peer into them through doors left ajar.

By helping us look inside/out and outside/in Marshall encourages the viewer to not settle for one utopian vision but contemplate the many possible outcomes and journeys through a series of revolving doors.

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Robert Marshall MRSS’ ‘Portals: In Search of a New World’ can be seen at Devon Sculpture Park from 25 June 2022. Book your visit today.

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Mamhead Park South features the Robert Adam Orangery, which is considered one of Britain’s finest historic coastal houses. It sits perched on a hill overlooking the sea, with Capability Brown gardens surrounding it.

There is also the stunning Lakehouse that hovers over the Capability Brown lake surrounded by nature and art.

The Capability Brown gardens are a dream. Packed with flaura and fauna. 15 acres that make up one of the world's leading historic garden rewilding projects.

LettsSafari +

Historic Gardens Join LettsSafari Network

Exeter’s Capability Brown gardens have joined the LettsSafari Network of parks…

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5 years ago · 4 likes · LettsGroup

To find out more about our eco estate retreat at Mamhead Park South go to our public website.

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The Robert Adam Orangery is a delight in its glowing Bath stone. It is the oldest building on the estate. Now nearly 700 years old. It is a magnificent historic Romanesque house designed by Robert Adam, the famous British architect.

The views over the Exe estuary and out to sea are breathtaking.

The stone terraces in front of the Robert Adam Orangery are perfect for lounging, lunch and evening drinks. The terrace gardens host a wealth of rare plants and stunning open-air art.

The Robert Adam dome room with its 35ft high ceiling and circular skylights are dizzying. It leads out to the terraces and inwards towards the internal courtyard and other reception rooms.

The private art collection is astounding.

The Capability Brown gardens are a feast year round, hosting one of the most diverse collections of ancient and younger trees. Wildlife is everywhere. Birdsong abounds. Plants flower in rotation through the year in the sheltered micro-climate.

If you would like to find out more about our eco estate in Mamhead Park on the southern tip of Exeter City, go to our public website.

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Did you know that LettsRetreat centres are supported by a sister project called LettsSafari?

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LettsRetreat + is a unique subscription based membership programme for our eco retreats.

LettsRetreat + is a unique subscription based Membership programme offering you the full, historic estate at Mamhead Park South to stay in for 5 unforgettable nights a year - including the Robert Adam Orangery overlooking the sea, the magical Lakehouse and the art studio in the Summer House.

Enjoy meetings in The Sheds, walk the Capability Brown gardens, play tennis or relax by the lake before taking in the amazing sculpture gardens.

On the southern tip of Exeter City just 15 mins from the bustling city centre.

Your annual membership includes:

1. Enjoy the full estate for 5 nights a year for up to 14 people. Includes the Robert Adam Orangery, the Lakehouse, art in the Summer House and meetings in The Sheds.

2. Get invited to special VIP events including our summer solstice reception.

3. Receive special, unique offers.

We hope you can join us.

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Keep up to date with LettsRetreat’s latest news and updates at our website and on twitter.

A bit of background

TV remains the platform used most often for news, followed by social media and talking to family. For the younger generations social media is key.

Recent Pew research revealed that amongst U.S. adults there is mixed evidence about the public’s understanding of newer forms of media and news. U.S. adults are broadly familiar with technologies like streaming devices or services, podcasts and news alerts. At the same time, though, many do not seem to use most of these for news consumption, and results suggest that many do not even think of these new forms as ways to get news.

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Additionally, as news consumers navigate an information environment that includes news aggregators and social media feeds, confusion abounds regarding the original source of reporting. Only 9% of U.S. adults are very confident that they can tell if a news organisation does its own reporting.

It is possible that consumers care less about the original source of news due to a growing lack of trust in the media. As this trust continues to erode there will be opportunities for new entrants and different approaches.

New entrants

TV streaming services are likely to offer news as an extension to their already in-demand documentary programmes. Equally, we might see trusted technology brands like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook doubling down on the action.

Local news is gettibg disrupted by all-digital startups with multi-channel offerings (articles, podcasts and video) supported by subscriptions and sponsorship rather than advertising.

The trust equation

Trust is the big issue with existing media providers. Their relentless focus on bipartisanship and click chasing to shore up declining revenues has eroded consumer trust. Their readers no longer believe that they are independent outlets for factual reporting.

Business news has been taken over by corporations, consumer news by celebrity stalking, and political news by leaks, lobbyists and increased government influence.

New approaches

The trust equation is creating the right environment for the economics of news publishing to facilitate subscription and not just advertising. As consumers have been willing to pay for TV streaming services to avoid interruption-by-ads, they will be willing to pay for news services that are more independent and less influenced by click chasing.

As news reporting gets commoditized, opinion and commentary will become more valued.

Letts was an early entrant in the development of personal news gathering with the invention of the diary in 1812, and the creation of ‘diary-keeping’. Next week Letts Group plan to announce a new step in its approach to more democratic news provision.

New technology

News gathering and reporting will become more distributed and automated. Media technology and equipment gets more powerful by the day, while costs continue to decline. As a result, media outlets will be able to rely on citizen journalism for local stories, video footage and photos, focusing their diminished resources on hot stories and hot spots. Equally, artificial intelligence will enable the back office, writers and editorial staff to get replaced by machines.

New payment technologies are opening up micro-payments and innovative approaches to media distribution as we transition to the tokenization of news articles and videos. In effect, news media discovery and acquisition might become more like buying a single on Spotify - discovering (and paying for) stand alone articles, rather than subscribing to broad online news publications like we used to buy albums. This would benefit certain aggregators over branded news publishers.

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The combination of massively distributed, real-time citizen journalism, AI publishing processes and new payment methods, along with advances in 3D and interactive, multi-user video means that news media could be on the cusp of another significant step change - leaving it for the rest of us to catch up.

Surviving is a free publication. Subscribe so you never miss an update. And reach us on twitter @LettsGroup.

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The majority of ‘services’ seem to exist in a quasi dial-up world. A perpetual state of, at best, ‘hybrid’.

When we think about business consultancy services we imagine people in offices crunching reams of data, delivering insightful, stat-ridden reports that get presented in swanky meeting rooms by senior partners.

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When bringing to mind restaurants we imagine a well laid out physical space with people serving us exotic, perhaps slightly over priced food - but who cares, it's for the ‘experience’ and a night out from the kids!

When we plan going to the theatre we organise a night, surrounded by others, in a semi-circular or rectangular space, with hundreds of other people watching a handful of actors playing out a scene with a static backdrop behind them.

Going to a gig is exactly that: get in a car or a bus, go to a field (or another theatre) and try to get comfortable watching a band play ‘live’ from a far off stage.

We keep telling ourselves that in-person meetings, presentations, dining, performances and music is what it’s all about. But what if it’s not?

What if the services sector was to become entirely virtual? What if any consulting or outsourced service could be bought and delivered online. The full end to end, digital experience.

What if every meal was consumed remotely? What if every theatre production was viewed from the living room couch? And every live music gig enjoyed on the phone. This all appears to be a distant reality. A new future, for someone else.

But, you see, this is what the future will look like. Not because the current generation demands it, but because our future generation already lives in such a virtual world. As they become workers, managers and entrepreneurs, they will rapidly ring the changes.

Millennials in the U.S. spend on average 4 hours per day online. This once youthful demographic has grown up and today they represent the bulk of white collar workers and middle managers. Tomorrow they will run companies and lead public sector organisations.

At the same time, according to Common Sense Media, teens spend an average of 9 hours a day online. Today's teens and young adults are called generation Z, and these post-millenials are entering the workforce (the oldest gen z’ers are 22).

The reason for the almost doubling of time spent online by generation Z over millennials is because the latter grew up, from a very young age, with high speed broadband, smartphones, tablets, YouTube and Spotify.

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They live in a virtual world and this is the environment they are the most comfortable in - period.

TV has moved online. Social networking has become the norm. Friends hang out together in virtual spaces.

As they enter adulthood generation Z will demand that fine dining is delivered to their homes or recipes explained virtually, ideally with interactive 3D. They will enjoy gigs with friends just like they play multi-player games. Indeed, they will expect virtual multi-player, multi-participatory everything, from football games to live theatre to business building and museum visits.

They will want to buy legal services from an online store, and they’ll want the basic legal documents templatised, with add-on support delivered virtually in pre-paid packages.

They will look to Xero and Quickbooks to do their accounts and tax filings, and not just provide the software that organises it. They will want the software AND the accounting service fully automated, for an annual fee. Computers will do what accountants have been doing for centuries.

Computers have already learned how to do most manual tasks better than us humans.

The new consumer will only want to vote, register or have anything to do with government as long as they can do it digitally. They will expect routine, non threatening health checkups and cures to be provided virtually.

They will only buy business services over the web. No more time spent in cool ad agency offices. Google, Facebook and YouTube will provide fully automated ads and everything we require to run our own integrated campaigns.

The new workers will question how they can effortlessly learn, play, date and message in-app, but can't quite get the same level of instantly satisfied virtuality into their various business dealings.

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As millennials edge towards their 40’s and become the new generation of company leaders, and gen Z heads into the workplace - together they will change the way we work and live in the next decade.

The hybrid world that we exist in today with online and offline retail, streaming and live music, physical and virtual conferences will prove to be a hybrid moment in time.

The future will be online only. The sooner the services sector gets on board with this new reality the longer they might survive. But time is ticking.

Surviving is a free publication. Subscribe so you never miss an update. And reach us on twitter @LettsGroup.

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The first painful step, we have, by now, all experienced. The vast majority of business leaders and households have experienced decline during the last 18 months. The difference with such a shock global event is the speed at which we went into it - and the all encompassing nature of it. We were caught out. Everyone was affected. Most sectors were hit and many are still a long way from recovery.

The key to the ‘decline’ phase is to acknowledge it, move urgently and manage through it. Decline is like addiction - the first step to recovery is to admit it. Most business leaders are taught to manage for growth or status quo. Few business schools focus on managing in decline - that's for the ‘turnaround’ experts. And this was way more than a cyclical downturn - this was managing while falling off a cliff!

The challenge for certain sectors has been to ascertain whether the decline in business that they experienced was pandemic related or more systemic. For example, the decline of high street department stores and shopping malls has been brewing for a while. The pandemic killed many of them off - the recovery will not see them return. Their longer term demise was merely accelerated by a few years.

The decline phase requires fast, bold action, even more than for high growth mode. The key is to predict the revenue and earnings trough early and cut costs to align to this. If in doubt - go low. A subsequent priority is to rapidly develop a new 3 year plan which covers both of the first 2 steps - ‘decline and recovery’.

Some products need to be dropped - some developed. Certain new innovations should be accelerated, some put on hold. Some services should be trimmed. Some departments beefed up - some restructured. Profitable customers need to be hugged harder than ever before. Systemically loss-making customers might require the opposite. Planning and decision cycles have to be shortened. Flexibility is the new key word.

Businesses went into the pandemic somewhere on a digital spectrum. At one end of the spectrum were the ‘digitally lite’, i.e. businesses that were predominantly analogue with most customer interactions done in-person. At the other end of the spectrum existed the ‘digitally advanced’ businesses that operate predominantly online, with most of their customer interactions being virtual. Today being ‘digitally advanced’ also requires you to be able to offer employee home working for at least part of the week. ‘Digitally advanced’ businesses often thrived during the pandemic.

Businesses and households that were ‘digitally lite’ have suffered the most. Indeed, you could argue that such a classification system could have been utilised by governments to target pandemic payments. They could perhaps have better focused financial and other support to those that needed it the most. We know that households that were ‘digitally lite’ felt more isolated, often could not work from home and struggled with online schooling.

‘Digitally lite’ businesses could have been targeted with information, training and financial support geared towards getting them online or at least helping them understand how to serve their customers and employees in a more virtual fashion. And, of course, the two are linked. Operating a ‘digitally lite’ household and working for a ‘digitally lite’ organisation might be a tough place to be.

The hardest part is moving from ‘decline to recovery’. Decline is all about cost and cash management. Recovery is about realigning to the new realities - the post pandemic world, as it were. The starting point, as always, is to read the new macro tea leaves. Great shocks accelerate change and create the circumstances for new desires and habits to emerge. The current environment is no different.

With the benefit of hindsight it seems clear that there are 7 macro trends that progressive businesses and households will need to realign to. They include equality, diversity, wellbeing, sustainability, digital, virtual and green. The most successful organisations will be the ones that adapt their business strategy, values and model to optimise for each of the 7 macro trends. Being great at just one or two will not suffice.

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And it is around these new trends that tomorrow's businesses are being formed. It is where the consumers needs and desires are heading. Incumbents will have to adapt or they will get pushed to one side. Like the footballer, Ronaldo, pushing aside Coke bottles in a press conference because they clash with his values around health and sustainability.

Tomorrow's restaurant groups are figuring out how to design kitchens that are efficient at supporting the online delivery model, while also supporting a more unique in-restaurant experience. New entrants, such as Six by Nico, are embracing the new world and growing fast.

Bars and cafes have had to figure out how to optimize outdoor experiences. Planning regulations need to enable and extend this shift. Delivery organisations are trying to better support their gig economy workers - improving employee wellbeing and income equality.

The entire arts sector is acknowledging that it needs to appeal to a wider audience, while attempting to nurture talent from all sectors of society and any denomination. The only way that this can be achieved is by adapting the curatorial process and switching to digital. Arts organisation can no longer count on thriving as physical outlets alone. The concept of the all-digital museum will soon be with us.

The music sector is trying to develop equal opportunity for new acts and to support the long-tail, independent end of the music industry. The TV and movie streaming services have been more successful - providing a welcome boost for independent film and TV production companies. Perhaps the music streaming services should take note and attempt to develop classification systems and algorithms that are better at ‘discovery’ and ‘genre’ rather than so heavily focused on the ‘artist’.

Outdoor venues are facing the twin pressures of going green while embracing a digital front office. New organisations such as Devon Sculpture Park are pointing the way. The world's first rewilding sculpture park is a refreshing new take on such a traditional sector, combining a heavily green and digital agenda with a refreshing contemporary art programme that is strong on nurturing the long-tail of talent.

Corporates in general will have to develop advanced green programmes and adopt innovative approaches to carbon offsetting. At the same time they will need to develop systems that deliver greater opportunity and access for a wider subset of the population and employee base. The model of fast-tracking white, often male, MBA graduates for management opportunities is getting challenged.

Technology companies will need to raise their game when it comes to employee wellbeing, sustainability and going green. Their Achilles heel could prove to be how energy intensive data centres and computers are by design. At the same time they will need to address the life of consumer electronics devices as they increasingly atone for much of the damaging waste dumped on land and in our seas. They also need to continue to tackle employee wellbeing, given the long hours that come with the sector and time stuck inside, behind screens.

The fast growing crypto-currency sector will have to go green or face a future spurned by increasingly climate aware investors, households and businesses. Minting new crypto-coins just burns too much fossil fuel.

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There is no doubt that the hardest part for many companies will be making the transition from decline to recovery to a new prosperity. But, the prosperity part requires a different kind of business for society. One that looks to the 7 new pillars of growth - equality, diversity, wellbeing, sustainability, digital, virtual and green.

For those who achieve this somewhat more enlightened path to growth, there might be a better future around the corner. One with lower levels of inequality, opportunity for more, less imbalance of life and more hope for our planet and future generations. We may have to accept a digital pathway to discover this future hope. But, that might prove a small price compared to the alternatives.

Surviving is a free Letts Group publication. Subscribe so you never miss an update. And reach us on twitter @LettsGroup.

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It sits within a growing movement to accelerate the removal of carbon dioxide. To date most commercial activities and greentech companies have focused on reducing emissions by providing alternatives to fossil fuels. Letts Group have been focused on the other side of the equation - carbon removal and storage. Their first greentech venture potentially expands the renewables universe to include renewable nature. At the same time it tackles the biodiversity crisis, which could prove equally timely.

Letts Safari harnesses the energy of the environmental movement and gives those involved actions to take beyond protest. It enables all people to do something about climate change. Members subscribe to a digital platform at LettsSafari.com that builds next generation safari parks - one tree, one animal, one new park at a time. Every 10 subscribers they plant a tree a year, every 100 subscribers they release a wild animal, and every 10,000 subscribers they will create a new, real-world safari park a year. Their first safari park is up and running in southwest, England.

The Letts remind us of the threat of climate change. “Our soil and waterways are so damaged that they're no longer able to absorb the carbon we produce. As a result emissions are trapped in the atmosphere creating pollution, violent storms, droughts, flooding and wildfire. We’re losing wildlife and plants faster than ever before. We need to do something about it.”

Letts Safari offers a simple answer by building rewilding safari parks that do something about climate change. Their parks rapidly repair soil and waterways so they can absorb carbon dioxide, and ensure that trees and plants thrive naturally, providing habitats for wildlife.

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When you subscribe to Letts Safari they plant trees, release wildlife and build new habitats. Each tree they plant removes 1 tonne of carbon dioxide during its life. They also remove carbon with scrub, wild grasses, wetland and bog.

Once they get enough subscribers they will create more eco safari parks – with their members – to make a bigger difference. Hopefully along the way members will get inspired to build a mini wildlife haven in their backyard, at work, school and in their community. They'll share the secret source.

Subscribers to Letts Safari get a front row seat at the safari parks. With video footage, hidden cameras, wildlife photography and stories that transport them to the wild - online.

The Letts accidentally discovered rewilding in 2006 when they decided to create a small, wild space outside New York. They built an ecosystem of wild grasses, wildflower, shrub, scrub and trees on just a few acres. Before they knew it the wildlife started arriving. First insects, bugs and snakes. Then birds and mammals. A wasteland turned into a wildlife haven in just a couple of years.

They decided to do it again in a larger space. In 2014 they bought an old, run down 100 acre park and garden on the outskirts of Exeter, in the southwest of England. It was a mess. Today it’s a leading rewilding wildlife park. They created Letts Safari so they can share this fascinating new approach to 'renewable nature' and build many more safari parks. What they accidentally discovered back in 2006 is today called smaller-scale rewilding. If enough of us do enough of it, we can help fix the climate problem.

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It looks like a fascinating new greentech offering - providing a mass market approach to rewilding with a digital, subscription economy wrapper. It could prove a timely way for us to offset carbon and restore nature, while reducing emissions and rebuilding biodiversity. You can subscribe to Letts Safari from £3.50 a month or £35 annually.

It is time for us to start moving beyond a narrative which is focused on climate analysis and blame/scare stories, to a more positive and inclusive movement for specific environmental action. After all, where there’s mass market action, there’s hope.

Surviving is a free publication. Subscribe so you never miss an update. You can reach us on twitter @LettsGroup.

Today millions of businesses conduct virtual meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The stats speak for themselves.

• The Zoom mobile app was downloaded 485 million times in 2020.

• Zoom has 467,100 business customers.

• The number of annual meeting minutes on Zoom is now over 3.3 trillion.

• 45 billion minutes of webinars are hosted on Zoom every year.

Microsoft Teams has over 500,000 business customers and 145 million daily active users. Google Meet has over 100 million active user participants per day while Zoom has over 200 million. Slack, Cisco and others are hosting millions of additional users.

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The pandemic has accelerated the shift to virtual meetings by several years. Almost all workers have some experience of remote meetings. But there is no guarantee that more collaboration tools lead to more productive meetings.

According to Atlassian, most employees attend on average 62 meetings a month. 50% of these meetings are considered a waste of time and 31 hours are spent in unproductive meetings per month. That's the equivalent of 4 working days per month in unproductive meetings.

Research revealed that for the average meeting goer 91% daydreamed during meetings, 96% missed meetings, 39% slept during a meeting and 45% felt overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attended. Half of meeting goers complained that meetings were the number 1 time waster in the office - alongside email overload and constant interruptions.

Research we conducted by inviting a group of teenage school-goers to listen into a series of third party office meetings were marked by words of feedback which included ‘waste of time’, ‘lame’, ‘pointless’, ‘dull’ and ‘really, is that it?’. They all asked why face to face meetings, whether they were virtual or physical, were needed at all. They have been brought up in a world of online communications that are more fluid and informal.

It seems that the current system of meetings is broken. And the explosion of virtual meetings might have just made the situation worse. After all, the format of meetings has not changed that much - it is possible that we are just having more of them.

The problem with the concept of the company meeting is that it is all too often a status symbol. As a result, it seems too many employees are happy to participate in unproductive work ‘to be seen and heard by others’. It looks like this cycle might need to be broken.

There are a number of meeting productivity apps and tools out there that can help to make setting up and managing meetings more productive. But, in the end, it could be that the problem is the meeting itself.

It might be time to apply Size Zero principles. Perhaps we should treat meetings like budgets. Zero budgeting has become an increasing trend among corporates - meaning all budgets are zeroed out at the beginning of the year and rebuilt from scratch.

What would happen if we created a culture of Zero Meetings or at the very least a culture of Zero Dead-time?

Back in the day you needed to have a really good reason to invite Andy Grove to a meeting. The former Intel boss once wrote: “Just as you would not permit a fellow employee to steal a piece of office equipment, you shouldn't let anyone walk away with the time of his fellow managers.”

Treating timewasters on a par with thieves may sound a bit harsh, but if you think about it such an attitude could well be justified. After all, you are paying your people to be productive. If someone or something is holding them back then you are losing money. And the drain is probably a lot greater than you think.

A study by the consulting firm Bain & Company estimated that about 15% of an organization’s collective time is spent in meetings. The amount has been rising every year since 2008. And about 20% of that time is unproductive.

Corporate meetings are incredible time vampires.

Bain uncovered one company with a weekly leadership meeting that added up to 7,000 hours a year for the attendees, but 300,000 hours a year for the workers who had to prepare materials for it.

Because meetings are so often useless, workers might no longer take them seriously.

The cost of such unproductive meeting time is apparently $37 billion in the US alone. But that's not all. When not stuck in pointless meetings, your people are likely to be swamped with useless emails.

Bain’s research, meanwhile, uncovered 22% of meeting participants sending at least one email per 10 minutes of meeting time, on average, and double-booking meetings to put off decisions about which to attend. “Dysfunctional behaviours like these create a vicious cycle,” says the Harvard Business Review. “Parallel processing and double booking limit the effectiveness of meeting time, so the organisation sets up more meetings to get the work done.”

Apart from the time spent checking for and dealing with emails, Atlassian says the strain of constantly fielding messages can literally make you stupid. You can lose up to 10 IQ points, the same as missing an entire night's sleep.

With all of this, it's a wonder any work gets done at all in a modern office setting. Indeed, it seems that only about 60% of your time at work is actually productive. That's a sobering thought and potentially means 40% of payroll spend is unproductive.

New approaches could look at a zero-based time budgets. Do to time what many corporate finance departments are doing to expenditure. Leaders could even decide in advance how much time employees should spend in meetings and give it to them as fixed budgets for them to spend, and include penalties for anyone who goes over. Or provide incentives for slashing meeting time and increasing productivity - such as a 4 day work week.

A more extreme approach could be to implement zero meeting time. How would we operate as workers if we were not allowed to spend time in organised, repetitive meetings? What tools would we develop to replace the current approach? After all, as automation rolls on, we should remind ourselves that machines don't need to meet. At the very least this approach could be worth the intellectual exercise.

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We should also perhaps spend more time researching exactly why employees are willing to waste so much time on meetings and interruptions. Perhaps we should consider switching to output based remuneration and incentive structures rather than input based as is so often the case today.

Businesses could impose rules based approaches such as cutting meeting times in half and cutting the number of internal meetings by half. They could get tougher on the number of attendees - perhaps even insisting on slashing this number in half.

But, in the end, it will likely come down to leadership and culture. As an increasing number of office and meeting productivity apps and tools are implemented we should perhaps step back and focus on employee wellbeing to drive productivity. After all, if standard meeting times were cut in half, we would be able to spend our Friday afternoons differently. Some going to the beach, some taking up a hobby and some with their family. We probably already know what we would rather be doing.

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